Lost and Found
by anime-is-dumb
Summary: When one wants to hide, the best place to do it is usually in plain sight. Or so he thought.
1. Prologue

I own nothing related to Harry Potter. All of this is written strictly for fun and not profit.

* * *

Samuel Mason grinned and pushed his white-blond hair away from his gray eyes as he stepped out into the crisp fall air of suburban London. The sounds of machinery and other industrial noises surrounded him as he walked out of the small machine shop in the Park Royal district where he labored running CNC machines all day.

There was nothing better than stepping out of that stifling, noisy, smelly environment and into the fresh, cool air. It was 3:30 pm on a Wednesday, and the 27 year old man was finally free again, at least until 7am the following morning.

After waving goodbye to a few of his co-workers and promising to meet them that Friday for a few pints at the pub, he flicked a few errant metal chips off of his sleeves and made his way to the car park, where his battered old VW Golf waited for him.

Sam's co-workers would describe him as a friendly, genial man, but one who was very secretive about his own origins as well as his personal life. None of them had ever so much as met a relative of his or seen the inside of his home. They mostly agreed behind his back that he was a bit different, but always a friendly bloke and a good worker, so that could be forgiven.

"Whoof. Another sunset, another shilling." sighed Sam as he slumped into the driver's seat of his old hatchback and tossed his lunch pail into the passenger seat.

As he started the engine and turned out onto the surface roads to make his way towards the small flat he inhabited in Hammersmith, he sighed again.

It was a lonely life Sam led here in London. Sam lived alone, without so much as a roommate, save for a small black cat (Nigel) and was largely friendless. He'd long been estranged from his family and everything he'd known before coming to London.

But, that wasn't a train of thought Sam wanted to visit, if he could help it. Sam really didn't want anything to do with his family or his past. Instead, his thoughts turned to his small, furry roommate.

"I'd better visit the pet shop, or Nigel will go hungry tonight." thought Sam as he made a detour and began traveling west.

_'It's a good thing I get my check in two days. I'm nearly broke.'_ thought Sam as he pulled up to Fins and Feathers, a small shop that Sam preferred to give his business to, rather than the big corporate stores further up the road.

As he walked in and the bell jingled, the clerk immediately perked up.

"Oi! Sam!" greeted a curvy, bespectacled brunette as she recognized her favorite customer. Her blue eyes twinkled as she smiled at the taller man.

"Hi Cindy. Working the afternoon shift today?" replied Sam with a smile of his own as he sauntered to the counter.

"Yeah. Bob quit last week, so the rest of us have been working long shifts to cover for him." she huffed and blew her bangs out of her face.

"I suppose it means you get more hours, at least. Can't hurt your paycheck." offered Sam.

"Eh. I guess." she replied flippantly. "So, just the usual, then?"

"Of course."

"I'll be back in a moment then." Cindy, disappeared, and returned a few minutes later, struggling with a large bag of dry cat food and a smaller case of canned wet food.

"Urgh. Bloody hell, these are heavy." she grunted as she hefted the cat food onto the counter.

"I could have helped, you know."

"Ah ah ah, no customers behind the counter. We keep all of our secrets back there, you know." joked Cindy with a cheeky wink.

Sam just shook his head bemusedly as he pulled out his wallet to pay for the cat food.

As he was about to leave, Cindy, who had appeared to be steeling herself for something, spoke again.

"Er, ah...Sam? I was just wondering if you were...doing anything Friday night?" she asked nervously, wringing her hands together a bit, and blushing fiercely.

Sam stopped. It wasn't the first time he'd been offered a date from a woman. Hell, it wasn't even the first time Cindy had asked him out.

Sam had always politely declined with an excuse when this sort of thing happened, preferring to keep himself out of relationships. When he needed a shag, he'd bring some anonymous girl home from the pub and send her on her way the next morning, but otherwise he'd spent the past ten years by his lonesome. He simply didn't feel much of anything for these women.

There had been one girl he'd known in his teenage years, who made his heart jump and his breath catch. He'd thought she'd felt the same, but that probably had never been the case. Sam hadn't forgotten her, but she'd probably long since forgotten him. It was probably for the best, though. That was a lifetime ago for Sam, and if he was being honest, she was completely unattainable anyway, even back then.

Still, he was nearly 30, and he really did want to settle down one day.

Originally, his self-imposed exile from relationships had been the result of him wanting to be able to go back to his old life if he needed to, but ten years on, that was looking less and less likely.

And, of all the women he'd met since coming to London, Cindy was the one who probably had the greatest potential for turning into a real partner. The twenty-two year old pet shop clerk was a sweetheart, and very easy on the eyes, Sam thought. And, she clearly liked him.

"Unfortunately, I've a prior engagement on Friday evening." replied Sam.

She visibly deflated. "Oh. Well, I suppose it's a good thing that _one_ of us has a social life. It'd be pretty sad if _both_ of us were spending our Friday watching old _Red Dwarf_ episodes with a package of chocolate biscuits and their cat at one in the morning...not that I do that, but..."

Sam interrupted Cindy's nervous, slightly embarrassed rambling.

"However, my Saturday evening is quite free." he said with a smile.

Cindy jolted out of her rambling with a gasp. "Really? Omigosh, here!"

She quickly scribbled some numbers on a slip. "That's my mobile."

"I'll call you a few hours before I can pick you up. Dress casual." replied Sam with a smile as he took the paper.

After bidding a clearly excited Cindy farewell and lugging the cat food back to his car, Sam once again drove off in the direction of his flat.

* * *

The ride home was rather uneventful, as traffic hadn't been as congested as usual. At a stoplight, Sam winked and waved to a group of high school girls who were sitting at an outdoor cafe, clearly ogling him. It sent them into a fit of giggling.

Sam thought again of Cindy and thought that it was probably about time he'd started properly dating. You know, before his bedazzling looks began to leave him.

About twenty minutes later, he arrived at his old, brick-fronted flat. There was an older model black Range Rover with dark windows that Sam didn't recognize in his usual parking space, so he was forced to drive further down the street to park.

"Dammit." grunted Sam as he hefted the cat food towards the door to his flat.

He set the burden down to fumble for his key.

As he did it, the doors to the old Rover swung open, and two people jumped out of it, and began quickly walking towards him.

"Mr. Mason!" called a sharp, clear female voice that he immediately recognized.

Samuel turned around to see two people, a man and a woman making their way towards him. The man was shorter and stocky, with dark unruly hair and green eyes. He was dressed in slacks, with a shirt and jacket.

The woman was tall and slim, with freckles and curly red hair framing crystalline blue eyes. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a black sweater under her jacket.

Sam's heart jumped when he saw her. Ten years later, and she was still immediately recognizable.

Both of them had their hands tucked into their jackets. Sam immediately recognized what they were doing and put his hands up.

"Please, those aren't necessary. I'm not armed. I haven't carried mine in nearly 10 years." he said. Both of the approaching people looked rather surprised when he said it.

"We'd like to bring you in and ask you some questions." the dark haired man replied, taking his hand out of his jacket.

"Am I under arrest?"

"No." replied the woman. "We just wish to ask you some questions. I presume you can guess what about?"

Sam sighed. "My parents?"

"Yes."

He nodded, then looked down at the pile on his doorstep. "May I at least bring this in and feed my cat before we go?"

The two looked at each other, before nodding.

"Come in, then." said Sam, as he opened the door and carried the pet food into the flat.

"Albus, secure the door." said the woman as she followed Sam into the house. The dark haired man nodded, and took up a position near Sam's front door.

As Sam set about feeding a very appreciative Nigel, who warily watched the red-haired intuder as he ate, the red-haired woman finally relaxed a bit.

"It's been a very long time, Scorpius Malfoy." she said, as she looked into his eyes.

He nodded.

"Yes it has, Rose."

Shortly after that, the three piled into the Range Rover, with Scorpius in the magically secured rear seat, and made their way towards the Ministry of Magic.

* * *

It seems that Scorpius has been living the life of a working class muggle in London for quite some time. Why? Stay tuned and find out!


	2. Good Cop Bad Cop

Chapter Two!

As usual, I own nothing related to Harry Potter, or any other thing I mention.

* * *

"So, is that how things are usually done when bringing someone in for 'questioning' these days?" asked Scorpius as he settled into the uncomfortable chair in the Auror Dept. interrogation office.

"What do you mean?" asked Auror Rose Weasley as she took her own seat.

"Wands at the ready, set to attack a person who _isn't_ under arrest." grunted Scorpius with a scowl.

"It is when we've no idea how the subject is going to react to our presence!" snapped Auror Albus Potter, who continued to stand. "And if you don't mind, we'll be the ones asking questions!"

"Ask away." replied Scorpius with a roll of his eyes.

"I'll start with a simple one." said Rose in a much gentler tone than Albus. "Are you aware of any illegal activities your parents have participated in in the past?"

Scorpius snorted. "I suspected they were into something they shouldn't have been. No idea what though. I've had maybe a dozen conversations with them since I started at Hogwarts, and in the past ten years I haven't seen or heard from either of them."

"And what made you _suspect_ anything? Besides your parents' naturally slimy nature, anyway." growled Albus from his standing position behind Rose.

"A single, isolated incident, back when I was at Hogwarts." replied Scorpius flippantly, not even bothering to look at Albus.

"Would you describe the incident, Scorpius?" asked Rose.

"I don't see why not..."

* * *

_Scorpius silently glided through the hallways of Malfoy Manor, the looming ancestral mansion that he unfortunately called home. It was the Christmas break during his fifth year, and the 15 year old student was already itching to get back to school. _

_Not that he liked Hogwarts. He just found it less terrible than his home. Plus, _she_ was there.  
_

_As he made his way past his father's study, two voices startled him out of his reverie. _

"_Draco, those muggles, I can't believe we..."_

"_It was them or us."_

_It was Scorpius' parents, and both sounded very agitated. He'd had no idea that they were even home, as he hadn't expected to see them once during the holidays. Hence, his startled jump when he heard their voices. _

_Quickly, he put an eye and an ear to the cracked door, to hear the rest of the conversation. _

"_I know, Draco, but this is bad! It won't go unnoticed..." replied a harried-sounding Astoria._

"_We were very careful."_

_Scorpius could see that both of his parents were wearing simple black clothing, that looked to be muggle in origin. On Dracos' desk were several large objects, roughly rectangular in shape, covered in brown paper and some sort of tape. There was also an open briefcase, filled to bursting with what appeared to be muggle money notes as well._

_'What the bloody fuck is all of this?' thought Scorpius as he looked on._

_As he watched, his father poured two very stiff drinks, before handing one to his appreciative looking mother. A visibly shaking Astoria downed most of it in one gulp. _

"_This wasn't supposed to happen, Draco." _

"_We got what we went there for, that's all that matters." replied Draco, nodding towards the packages. "And we kept our money. Nobody is going to know anything, and we've come out ahead." _

_Scorpius decided he'd rather not hear any more, and moved off as silently as he'd arrived._

* * *

"You saw all of that and didn't report it? We should throw you into a cell!" roared Albus, as he slammed his fist on the table.

Scorpius didn't even blink.

"Nothing in their conversation hinted at anything illegal." he replied smugly.

"And the packages and money you saw?" growled Albus.

"No idea what the packages were, didn't really care." snorted Scorpius.

"You aren't being very cooperative, Malfoy."

"And why should I be? Two bumbling fuckwit Aurors show up outside my house, approach in a threatening manner, and drag me off to question me about things I've nothing to do with! You're lucky I haven't already stopped talking and demanded legal counsel!" snapped Scorpius.

"Please, calm down, both of you." Rose interrupted, attempting to get the questioning back under some kind of control.

Scorpius raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"Do you remember anything else?" asked Rose.

"Nope. Like I said, I've not had much contact with my parents since I began at Hogwarts. I haven't even seen either of them since I was seventeen." replied Scorpius matter-of-factly.

"I'm sure he knows more than he's telling." snarled Albus. "Why else would he have hidden out in Muggle London for the past ten years? We all know how _his kind_ feel about Muggles..."

Scorpius merely rolled his eyes again, before turning to Rose.

"You two are really rubbish at the whole 'good cop/bad cop' routine. Perhaps you two should have watched a few more muggle police films before trying it. _Bad Boys II_ is a rather good one."

"Watch it, Malfoy." grumbled Albus.

Scorpius turned to Auror Potter with a sneer. "Sorry, Little Al, but I'm afraid that bringing me in here today has brought you no closer to solving the great Malfoy caper. Not that it matters anyway. Whatever my parents have done, you bringing them down won't get you any closer to matching your father's accomplishments. You're no Harry Potter, and you never will be."

"YOU FUCK-!" roared Albus as he drew his wand.

"ALBUS!" Rose cut him off, as she shot out of her chair. Albus stopped. "I'll take it from here, Auror Potter."

Albus realized how close he'd come to causing the Auror Department a lot of trouble, and quickly made his way to leave the room.

But, Scorpius wasn't finished.

"Say hello to dear cousin Teddy for me, Little Al!" he called in a mocking voice.

Albus turned to deliver one final, extremely venomous glare to the Malfoy scion, before leaving with a slam of the door.

Rose sighed. She'd completely lost control of this situation.

"Well, that was a_ very _professional display. With the Auror Department in such capable hands as his and yours, I'm seriously reconsidering my decision to live in Muggle London..." snarked Scorpius.

"I really wish you hadn't done that. Bringing up Albus' height, his father, and Lupin all at once was going a bit too far." said Rose quietly.

"Meh, whatever. Albus was a miserable insecure little shite in school and it looks like he hasn't changed a bit since then. I'm not surprised he's an Auror...though I can't imagine how he passed the mental assessment part of the Auror training." replied Scorpius.

Rose looked down at the table.

"Oh-ho! Or maybe he didn't pass, and family connections moved him through. Can't say I'm surprised." laughed Scorpius in an extremely mocking tone.

"Do you really have no idea why we're after your parents?" asked Rose, looking straight at Scorpius.

"Not a clue. I don't really care, either. They're my parents in name only. I might as well have been raised by the house elves. Draco and Astoria usually pretended that I didn't even exist." said Scorpius.

"It's funny you mention house elves. They're the reason that we're investigating your family in the first place. "

Scorpius said nothing and merely looked at Rose expectantly.

"One of your parents' house elves, Yoggo, was the one who came to us, several years ago, to report their criminal activities."

Rose paused before continuing.

"Apparently, your parents had been bringing in muggle narcotics, mostly cocaine, to sell to wizards and witches. They'd get it from the muggles themselves, and then once it was in their possession, they'd have their house elves move the product into Knockturn Alley and other places. Yoggo was one of them."

Scorpius' eyebrow went up.

"In the past ten years, Knockturn has turned into an even more horrible place, if you can imagine. It's entirely full of addicts, violence, and crime thanks to your parents. And, once we began investigating, we uncovered multiple cases of muggle criminals related to narcotics trafficking who had died of mysterious, unexplained causes."

Rose took a breath

"That night you remember, seeing your parents with the money and the packages...we believe they avada'd two muggle criminals that night. The muggles had their own weapons, and attempted to murder your parents and steal their money. Since the investigation began, we've potentially linked your parents to at least 11 other muggle murders."

Scorpius paled visibly and his eyes went wide. "I...see."

"Somehow, it got out of the department that your parents were under investigation. They disappeared three years ago and nobody can turn up a trace of them." said Rose. "I don't suppose you know where they could've gone?"

"I have no idea." replied Scorpius. "Though, I can't say I'm surprised by any of this. Both of my parents were completely destitute, galleon-wise. All they had was the Manor and whatever was in it. I remember them selling a load of old artifacts from it. Maybe that's where the money for the drugs came from. They must've been quite desperate to make a lot of money if they turned to this rubbish."

"I was afraid of that. Your disappearance ten years ago means you aren't a suspect, but we still wanted to question you. It took us years to find you so that would be possible. You disappeared so suddenly when we were in school...you didn't even take your NEWTs...nobody knew where you'd gone..." said Rose quietly.

"Didn't realize you cared." snorted Scorpius.

Rose said nothing.

"May I go now?" asked Scorpius. "I'm appalled by what my parents have been doing, but I really don't know anything about it."

"You're free to leave." sighed Rose. "But, we may want to speak with you again in the future."

"I can't wait." smirked Scorpius as he walked out of the office.

As he left, Rose drew a shuddering breath.

She'd managed to keep herself under control from the moment she stepped out of the Ministry Range Rover until now, but seeing Scorpius again had proven a lot more painful than even she thought it would have been. Scorpius had changed so much since she'd last seen him.

"I wish I hadn't been assigned this case." she said quietly to herself.

* * *

The plot thickens! I hope you enjoyed the story! Don't forget to review!


	3. Back to Samuel Mason

I own nothing related to Harry Potter. Which is a shame, because I hate working and retiring on a big stack of Potter money would be fabulous.

This is written purely for fun.

Don't forget to leave a review! They tell me if I'm doing good or bad, you know.

* * *

Scorpius groaned and slumped into his favorite chair the second he got back to his London flat. He looked up at the digital clock on his cable television box.

8:43 pm.

He'd left with Aurors Potter and Weasley sometime around 4:30pm.

Samuel Mason had been forced to return to life as Scorpius Malfoy for a bit over four hours, and he already felt like he'd been run over by the Knight Bus. Repeatedly.

Of course, if not for the reappearance of Rose Weasley into his life, the experience may have been a lot less emotionally draining.

Scorpius absently skritched behind Nigel's ears as the little black cat jumped into it's master's lap.

"Miss me, Nige?"

"Miaow."

Scorpius smiled as the cat curled up into a little ball and fell into his usual, slightly snorty sleep breathing patterns.

With that distraction now asleep, Scorpius' mind couldn't help but fall back into the events earlier that day.

He sighed.

So, his parents were drug dealers. Muggle drug dealers, no less. No doubt responsible for the shattering of many wizarding lives and families.

Scorpius couldn't help but think...maybe it was better if he lived out the rest of his days in muggle London, to eventually die of old age and rid the wizarding world of the Malfoys forever.

Maybe he'd even luck out and have only squib children, if he were ever lucky enough to settle down and raise a new generation of Malfoys...er...Masons.

Still, he didn't find it surprising. The only person more obsessed with regaining lost wealth and prestige than Draco Malfoy was Astoria Greengrass. That his parents would have turned to such low means to achieve it was a bit unsettling. But not nearly as unsettling as how it seemed to get more reasonable the more Scorpius thought about it.

_'They get rich, everyone else suffers. They probably thought it was brilliant.'_

And Scorpius still had no regrets about leaving his family behind.

Unfortunately, there were other regrets about leaving.

Tall, slim, slightly long-nosed, blue-eyed and bushy-haired regrets.

Scorpius snorted a little.

He regretted leaving Rose more than anything. Yet, Rose was one of the primary reasons he'd disappeared into the night in the first place.

_'A bit ironic, perhaps.'_ he thought with a rueful look.

Scorpius had already planned on leaving Hogwarts when he turned 17 and came of age. He'd had enough of the bullying from fellow students, disdain and distrust from teachers and faculty, and his own miserable family life being the only thing that waited for him whenever Hogwarts wasn't in session was the icing on the cauldron cake.

The only snag with that little plan was Rose Weasley.

The two of them had begun a, if not clandestine, then subdued friendship in third year, right around Scorpius' 14th birthday.

Not quite two years later, they'd begun a clandestine, if not unaffectionate romantic relationship.

He'd wanted to tell Rose about his plan to leave. Nobody else but Rose would know.

Scorpius' heart stung a little as the memory flooded back to him.

* * *

_Sixteen year old Scorpius Malfoy glided silently through the halls of Hogwarts, his destination it's grand old library. _

_He had a feeling Rose would be there. _

_He also had a feeling she was not going to like the news he was bringing to her. _

_His seventeenth birthday was three days away. He was going to leave Hogwarts. _

_He knew she'd try to talk him out of it. Threaten to tell the Headmistress. Yell at him. _

_Ask why he was leaving her. _

_But, ultimately, he knew he'd be able to leave if he wanted. She always relented in the end and let him do what he felt was necessary in his life. Odd, because nobody else would get away with that kind of thing where Rose Weasley was concerned. _

_That, and he had no intention of leaving her. Leaving Hogwarts, yes. But Rose would know where to find him. How to contact him. He'd make sure of it. He already had a place to stay, and was certain he could find a way to make galleons. _

_As he entered the library, he could hear Rose's slightly loud voice (though subdued a bit) carry across the stacks. _

_Unfortunately, there were a few other voices along with hers. _

_He froze as he heard his own name. _

"_...don't know what you see in that Malfoy git." _

_Scorpius sneered. Dominique Weasley. _

"_Really, Rose."_

_And her partner in crime, Fred Weasley. _

_Most of the Potters and Weasleys at Hogwarts were, if not friendly to Scorpius, at least not hostile. _

_Fred and Dominique were exceptions, though. _

_For whatever reason, the two had always seemed to take an extra pleasure in tormenting him. Harassing him in the halls, playing pranks on him, calling him names and spreading rumors. _

_Scorpius could never understand why those two in particular hated him. _

_Rose had suggested that perhaps Bill and George Weasley were not as willing to put the past behind them as their siblings. _

_But, that wouldn't explain why Roxanne Weasley always fell into the 'not hostile to Scorpius' group. _

"_Oh bugger off you two, Rose can be friends with whoever she wants."_

_Lucy Weasley. Always a voice of reason. Scorpius liked her the most out of any of the redheaded clan, apart from Rose. _

"_Thank you, Lucy." replied Rose. _

"_As long as you aren't dating, or worse, shagging the little Death-Eating creep." replied Dominique flippantly as she tapped her quill on the her parchment. _

_From his position behind the nearby shelf, Scorpius froze. _

_He couldn't see that Rose had done the same. He couldn't see any of them from his eavesdropping position. _

"_You're not...seeing him, are you?" asked Fred in a slightly angry tone._

"_O-of course not." replied Rose. "We're just...acquaintances. I don't like him that way." replied Rose, trying to keep a slight quake out of her voice. _

_Scorpius felt like he'd been punched in the gut. _

_He'd given Rose his virginity a month before. _

_She'd told him she loved him. _

_Had she lied?_

"_Good." grunted Fred. _

_Lucy rolled her eyes, before giving Rose an encouraging wink._

_She suspected that Rose was lying, and approved wholeheartedly. She'd been bright enough to work out why her normally rather quiet and subdued cousin had seemed so much happier lately. Woman's intuition, and all that._

_Unfortunately, on the other side of the stacks, Scorpius couldn't tell any of this _

_He fought back tears for a moment, before swooping away as quietly as he'd entered. _

_He snuck out of Hogwarts through a hidden tunnel to Hogsmeade that very night, three days earlier than he'd planned. _

_Unbeknown to him, Rose was inconsolable for weeks afterward. _

_And spent her final year at Hogwarts in a state of quiet depression._

* * *

Scorpius hung his head as he remembered.

So much time had past. And seeing her again still felt like being punched in the gut.

He groaned.

With any luck, the rest of the Auror Department's investigation of his parents wouldn't require him, and would thus keep him away from Rose.

He'd never manage to get over her if he had to keep seeing her again.

_'Still, on the bright side, I've got a date with Cindy this weekend.'_ thought Scorpius.

He hoped the oddly charming clerk he'd known for the past several years would be enough to get him completely away from Rose.

He wasn't sure if she would be, though.


	4. Saturday's Rose

Here's chapter 4. As usual, I own nothing I write about. This is just for fun. JK Rowling owns it and has the massive bank accounts to prove it.

Sorry about the non-regular updates. It's getting to be hot outside which means I'm quite busy fixing people's air conditioners all day.

* * *

Rose Weasley clutched a mug of tea and quietly stared out of the window of her small flat off of Diagon Alley, watching the people rush through the rain and into shelter.

She couldn't help but snort. It was 6pm on a gloomy Saturday, and instead of going out with her other single friends and having fun, Rose was sitting at home.

_'In old sweatpants and a ratty old Quidditch shirt. How sad is this?' _she mused rhetorically to herself.

Still, there was a reason for the lonely, casually dressed contemplation.

Him.

Ever since Scorpius Malfoy had suddenly resurfaced into her life, Rose's calm exterior had thankfully betrayed the emotional storm within.

Why had he gone? She'd never known what had happened to him. She still didn't, really.

_'At least he's not dead. I have that much to be thankful for.'_

Scorpius meeting an untimely end had been the worst of the fates she's imagined for Scorpius when he had vanished. But, finding him again and him acting like he'd completely forgotten her hurt almost as much.

She could still remember the last day she'd seen Scorpius at Hogwarts, nearly a decade ago.

* * *

"_...don't know what you see in that Malfoy git."_

_Rose stiffened slightly as Dominique named her secret boyfriend/semi-public friend. _

"_Really, Rose." agreed Fred. _

_Rose absolutely hated the way Dom and Fred treated Scorpius. She'd told them off when they played their cruel pranks or did something else to the boy. But, it tended not to dissuade her older cousins._

_The final straw had been the previous winter, when Scorpius had been stunned, stripped of his clothes, and hung up near the greenhouses, a rather cold place to be. Scorpius had been ill for a week after. _

_Nobody could prove that Dom and Fred had done it, but Rose knew. _

_She'd covertly hit the very vain Dominique with a curse that caused her face to break out into zits that would get bigger and bigger until they popped on their own. For a month. _

_She'd hit the self-proclaimed ladies man Fred with a curse that shrank his wedding tackle roughly to the size of two peas and a Bertie Bott's bean. For a month. _

_The two probably had no idea that Rose was the one responsible. Perhaps they'd assumed Scorpius had done it. In either case, it had backed the two of them off of him. But they still took delight in making disparaging remarks every chance they could. _

"_Oh bugger off, you two. Rose can be friends with whoever she wants." piped up Rose's cousin Lucy. _

_Rose smiled. She had a hunch that Lucy knew there was something between her and Scorpius. The girl was brilliant, after all. _

_"Thank you, Lucy." replied Rose. _

_"As long as you aren't dating, or worse, shagging the little Death-Eating creep." replied Dominique flippantly as she tapped her quill on the her parchment. _

_Rose stiffened again. She and Scorpius had exchanged their virginities a month before. It had been wonderful. Afterwards, she'd even told him that she loved him. Something she'd been wanting to say for a while, but was waiting for the right time. _

_He'd said the same to her. _

_"You're not...seeing him, are you?" asked Fred in a slightly angry tone._

"_O-of course not." replied Rose. "We're just...acquaintances. I don't like him that way." replied Rose, trying to keep a slight quake out of her voice. _

_Rose felt an icy knife of guilt plunge through her at the words. She hated to lie. And Rose most definitely saw Scorpius in that way. In fact, she'd pulled him into a broom closet and snogged him silly that very morning, just before breakfast. She'd felt so full of butterflies afterwards that eating her eggs and sausage was difficult. _

_"Good." grunted Fred. _

_Lucy rolled her eyes, before giving Rose an encouraging wink._

_Rose had smiled and blushed slightly as visions of her pale-haired beau went through her head. She couldn't wait for the day she and Scorpius could simply be open about their relationship. _

_She had even bought him two birthday presents, to give him that weekend. One rather fancy shaving kit that he could use every day. _

_And one rather lacy birthday present that she planned to wear herself._

* * *

And then Scorpius disappeared. For the next ten years.

The next morning, Rose had gone to meet him at their usual place, and he never showed. Then nobody saw him for the rest of the day. It wasn't until the afternoon that it was determined that every last thing belonging to Scorpius was gone as well.

It was almost as if Scorpius Malfoy had never existed at Hogwarts. He was just an apparition, a shadow that hinted at a previous existence. Like one of the portraits, except even less tangible.

Rose had locked herself away in the astronomy tower, hidden from everyone to cry in private, with only Lucy and Albus knowing where to find her. It would be two days before she began attending classes again.

Lucy understood Rose's pain and had been her shoulder, while Albus had simply stood quietly by, helping when he could.

In spite of being housemates, Albus and Scorpius had never really gotten on. But, they tolerated one another, for Rose's sake.

Now that Scorpius had abandoned Rose and seemingly life itself (just where had he gone, anyway?), Albus couldn't help but look murderous whenever Scorpius' name came up.

Nobody hurt Rose like that.

Fred and Dominique had immediately declared Scorpius' departure the best thing to happen to Hogwarts since Harry Potter, which only resulted in Rose not speaking to them for the rest of her time at the school.

Rose continued sipping her mug and painfully reminiscing for a while, before glancing at the clock. It was now about seven pm.

Rose pondered for a moment, before standing up and stripping off her clothes, before entering her closet and throwing on a jumper and a pair of jeans. She tied her her back into a messy ponytail and slipped on a pair of sneakers.

Rules and laws of investigation be damned. She knew where Scorpius was and needed to talk to him.

Now.

She needed some answers. And Rose was never one to wait around when she wanted something.

As Scorpius had learned in fifth year, when Rose had told him how she felt about him. Right after she'd laid the kiss of a lifetime on him near the quidditch pitches.

Rose grabbed her wand and quickly went out the door.

Thanks to the nearest designated safe apparition point not actually being very close to Scorpius' flat, Rose didn't arrive until nearly 8pm. She walked rather quickly and was red-faced and puffing slightly when she arrived, just in time to see a casually but stylishly dressed Scorpius exit his front door and begin walking towards his beaten old hatchback. He was humming a tune and jangling his keys as he did.

Rose immediately called out to him.

"Scor...er, Samuel!"

Scorpius turned around, with a shocked look on his face.

"Er, hi." Rose began. "Look, I hope I'm not interrupting something, but I really wanted to speak with you, but not about the investigation, and..." she breathed out, still a bit winded from moving so quickly after apparating.

Scorpius continued to stare at her in shock.

"...and, I just really want to speak with you." she repeated.

Scorpius finally found some words, and responded.

"I'm afraid you are interrupting something, Rose. I have a date with a very charming muggle woman tonight and I'd rather not be late. It will have to wait. Goodbye." he said tartly, before turning on his heel, getting into his Golf, and driving away before Rose could even respond.

As Rose stood there, staring at Scorpius' disappearing taillights, the rain clouds that had been pouring onto Diagon Alley apparently had continued their drifting, and now Rose was being drenched by the downpour.

Taking no notice of the rain that was now plastering her hair to her head and leaving her clothes completely soggy, Rose stumbled over to Scorpius' front step and sat down. Putting her head in her hands, she stared down at the ground between her legs.

_'What's happened to him? Scorpius never would've spoken to me like that...'_

The rain obscured the tears that were slowly leaking from her eyes.

* * *

This is the first chapter from Rose's point of view. But, probably won't be the last.


End file.
